Fall restraint equipment may include platforms, ramps, bridges, steps, guardrails, gangways, cages, and other structures. Gangways, for instance, may be used to provide access to an area, such as the top of a storage container. For example, a semitrailer truck or a railroad carriage transporting loadable material may need to be loaded or unloaded from the container's top. A gangway is used to provide workers a path to an access hatch on top of the container. The access hatch is generally pivoted on an axis either parallel or transverse to the longitudinal axis of the container.
A cage may be located at the distal end of the gangway to surround the area on top of the container where the worker will be standing. The gangway, and thus the cage, are stowed (i.e., retracted) as the container is moved into position so that they do not interfere with movement of the container. After the container is in the desired position, the gangway is lowered until the cage is adjacent to the top of the container. If the container is positioned correctly, the access hatch will then be at approximately the center of the cage.
As will be appreciated, however, the containers come in various lengths and different hatch positions. Thus, positioning some part of the container (e.g., the front side) at a certain location relative to the gangway will not necessarily ensure that the hatch is in the correct location. If the hatch is slightly forward or rearward of the gangway, the container will need to be moved accordingly. Multiple iterations may be required in order to position the hatch correctly, thus leading to operator frustration and loss of productivity.